5 ms·

>College students are literally trained to associate out-competing rival universities as a fun and desirable activity. This was not my experience in undergrad,

by feet 4y ago

>College students are literally trained to associate out-competing rival universities as a fun and desirable activity. This was not my experience in undergrad, literally at all. No idea where this comes from

wffurr 4y ago
Go to hell LSU! Gotta win the Egg Bowl over those scrubs at Mississippi State. Woo hoo we’re in the playoffs! It comes from many people’s experiences of collegiate sports which is full of rivalries, largely with no real basis. Except for LSU.
- r2_pilot 4y ago
  How do you say you associate with the University of Mississippi without saying that you associate with them? Ha. I work there and went to school there too, so those first few sentences(well, except for the playoffs remark lol) sound very familiar.
  - wffurr 4y ago
    Class of '04, Computer Science. Hotty Toddy.
    - r2_pilot 4y ago
      Fun times. You may remember me if you recall someone with a common first name and the last name of a bird(was there starting in 04); I certainly stayed around there long enough lol. Tended to keep to myself, though.
SkyMarshal 4y ago
Were you in college in the US, or somewhere else? It may be more prevalent in the US, dunno. Just based on observations of US sports and cheerleader culture.
- feet 4y ago
  Undergrad in the Midwest US
- nostrademons 4y ago
  It's not universal among U.S. college students either. I went to a Div3 top-tier (academically) liberal arts college, and most people were oblivious to how our sports teams did, unless you were on the team or close friends with someone who was. Probably because we lost a large percentage of the time. The sports culture is much more relevant at Div1 schools. These get a disproportionate amount of air time (at least as far as sports go), but that's largely because those are the schools where sporting matches are worth watching.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jakelazaroff 4y ago
Anecdotally, my wife’s school (UNC) had a rival (Duke). Temple That’s not weird or exceptional. There’s long Wikipedia article about rivalries between universities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_rivalries_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_rivalries_in_t...
- feet 4y ago
  Is that something that's just cultural in the community or is it something explicitly taught by university orientation/course work?
  - nverno 4y ago
    Those campuses are seeped in that rivarly. You'll hear chants, speeches, etc. It's a tradition.
    - jtdev 4y ago
    - casion 4y ago
      To add on to this, I have a co-worker from a specific university who would not buy a car because it was a rival universities colour. This person is ~30 years out of school, and the vehicle was an INCREDIBLE deal and exactly what the person was looking to buy (other than the colour). The person never competed in sports and was a comp sci major. It runs deep for at many schools.
      - sitkack 4y ago
        They themselves might have cared, but damn if I wear a purple shirt in Seattle folks are like Go Huskies to me, to the point where I think twice about putting it on or wearing it outside the house. I could give a damn about sports or nationalism, but lots of other idiots do.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
I was referring to college sports programs, which are a huge deal in the United States (where this study took place). Pick 35 random male college students and you will get a lot of college sports fans.
christophilus 4y ago
I really enjoy trolling the Harvard grads I know by referring to their “time at Yale or Princeton or wherever.” Old school rivalries run deep and are a lot of fun to play up. Also, for all of you in South Carolina, go Tigers (and Chants), booo Cocks!
- wanderingstan 4y ago
  I wonder if this research gives hints as to why rivalries are “fun”? Even when you know the in/out group distinction is silly, little aggressions like “boooo Cocks!” can tickle reward areas in the brain. Akin to how scary movies are fun even when you know you’re not in danger.
  - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
    As a Gamecock fan, and a somewhat reasonable person (self described), I’ve been defending rivalries based on this exact case throughout this thread. I completely agree with your speculation. It’s fun for me to even type: go fight win kick ass fuck Clemson. Ahhhh
- DiggyJohnson 4y ago
  I’m a proud Gamecock, and maybe that’s why I’m all over this thread. I just replied to a guy a few comments up about how I unironically chose a red car over orange (one of my favorite colors) because go, fight, win, kick ass, fuck Clemson! We can all agree the SC state flag is pretty, I guess.
DiggyJohnson 4y ago
We definitely were introduced to my state school’s rivalry at my undergrad orientation. It’s all in good fun, but certainly reinforced.

by feet 4y ago

wffurr 4y ago

Go to hell LSU! Gotta win the Egg Bowl over those scrubs at Mississippi State. Woo hoo we’re in the playoffs! It comes from many people’s experiences of collegiate sports which is full of rivalries, largely with no real basis. Except for LSU.

r2_pilot 4y ago
How do you say you associate with the University of Mississippi without saying that you associate with them? Ha. I work there and went to school there too, so those first few sentences(well, except for the playoffs remark lol) sound very familiar.
- wffurr 4y ago
  Class of '04, Computer Science. Hotty Toddy.
  - r2_pilot 4y ago
    Fun times. You may remember me if you recall someone with a common first name and the last name of a bird(was there starting in 04); I certainly stayed around there long enough lol. Tended to keep to myself, though.

SkyMarshal 4y ago

Were you in college in the US, or somewhere else? It may be more prevalent in the US, dunno. Just based on observations of US sports and cheerleader culture.

feet 4y ago
Undergrad in the Midwest US
nostrademons 4y ago
It's not universal among U.S. college students either. I went to a Div3 top-tier (academically) liberal arts college, and most people were oblivious to how our sports teams did, unless you were on the team or close friends with someone who was. Probably because we lost a large percentage of the time. The sports culture is much more relevant at Div1 schools. These get a disproportionate amount of air time (at least as far as sports go), but that's largely because those are the schools where sporting matches are worth watching.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

jakelazaroff 4y ago

Anecdotally, my wife’s school (UNC) had a rival (Duke). Temple That’s not weird or exceptional. There’s long Wikipedia article about rivalries between universities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_rivalries_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_rivalries_in_t...

feet 4y ago
Is that something that's just cultural in the community or is it something explicitly taught by university orientation/course work?
- nverno 4y ago
  Those campuses are seeped in that rivarly. You'll hear chants, speeches, etc. It's a tradition.
  - jtdev 4y ago
  - casion 4y ago
    To add on to this, I have a co-worker from a specific university who would not buy a car because it was a rival universities colour. This person is ~30 years out of school, and the vehicle was an INCREDIBLE deal and exactly what the person was looking to buy (other than the colour). The person never competed in sports and was a comp sci major. It runs deep for at many schools.
    - sitkack 4y ago
      They themselves might have cared, but damn if I wear a purple shirt in Seattle folks are like Go Huskies to me, to the point where I think twice about putting it on or wearing it outside the house. I could give a damn about sports or nationalism, but lots of other idiots do.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

I was referring to college sports programs, which are a huge deal in the United States (where this study took place). Pick 35 random male college students and you will get a lot of college sports fans.

christophilus 4y ago

I really enjoy trolling the Harvard grads I know by referring to their “time at Yale or Princeton or wherever.” Old school rivalries run deep and are a lot of fun to play up. Also, for all of you in South Carolina, go Tigers (and Chants), booo Cocks!

wanderingstan 4y ago
I wonder if this research gives hints as to why rivalries are “fun”? Even when you know the in/out group distinction is silly, little aggressions like “boooo Cocks!” can tickle reward areas in the brain. Akin to how scary movies are fun even when you know you’re not in danger.
- DiggyJohnson 4y ago
  As a Gamecock fan, and a somewhat reasonable person (self described), I’ve been defending rivalries based on this exact case throughout this thread. I completely agree with your speculation. It’s fun for me to even type: go fight win kick ass fuck Clemson. Ahhhh
DiggyJohnson 4y ago
I’m a proud Gamecock, and maybe that’s why I’m all over this thread. I just replied to a guy a few comments up about how I unironically chose a red car over orange (one of my favorite colors) because go, fight, win, kick ass, fuck Clemson! We can all agree the SC state flag is pretty, I guess.

DiggyJohnson 4y ago

We definitely were introduced to my state school’s rivalry at my undergrad orientation. It’s all in good fun, but certainly reinforced.